Robert Lee Dobbs (October 13, 1922 – April 2, 1986) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

fullback and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Early years

After graduating from high school in

Frederick, Oklahoma Frederick is a city and county seat of Tillman County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,940 at the 2010 census. It is an agriculture-based community that primarily produces wheat, cotton, and cattle. Frederick is home to three dai ...

in 1941, Bobby entered

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

to play football for coach

Henry Frnka Henry E. Frnka ( ; March 16, 1903 – December 18, 1980) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of Tulsa from 1941 to 1945 and at Tulane University from 1946 to 195 ...

. His brother Glenn, was also a star at University of Tulsa. A fullback, Dobbs played in Tulsa's first ever bowl game; the 1942 Sun Bowl. With the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

involved in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Bobby's patriotism, along with his desire to become a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and play football, led him to

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

. In early 1943, he joined the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

. His athletic ability resulted in

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

in football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. Bobby was the starting fullback on the 1944 Army team. The 1944 Army team had a 9–0 record, two future

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winners (

Doc Blanchard Felix Anthony "Doc" Blanchard (December 11, 1924 – April 19, 2009) was an American football player and serviceman who became the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award, and was the first football player to win the James E. S ...

& Glenn Davis), and defeated their opponents by a combined score of 504–35 en route to winning the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

National Championship. Following graduation, Dobbs took transition training at Enid Air Force Base and was then assigned to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. In 1949 Dobbs moved to

Carswell Air Force Base Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings. Carswe ...

, where he coached the Carswell football team to the Armed Forces Championship. In 1952,

Earl Blaik Earl Henry "Red" Blaik (February 15, 1897 – May 6, 1989) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at ...

brought Dobbs back to West Point to serve as an assistant football coach. Future

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized a ...

was also on the same Army coaching staff.

Coaching career

In 1955, Tulsa offered Dobbs the head football coaching job. Bobby accepted and left the Air Force. At Tulsa, he took over a team that had gone 0–11 the previous season. In 1956, Tulsa posted a 7–2–1 record, and in 1958, the team 7–3. These successes prompted Army to consider Bobby as a replacement for Red Blaik, but

Dale Hall Dale Stanley Hall (June 21, 1924 – August 23, 1996) was an American football and basketball player and coach. He played football and basketball at the United States Military Academy, where he was a two-time All-American in basketball and was n ...

was given the job instead. Dobbs most significant wins at Tulsa were a 24–16 victory over the undefeated

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Stillwater. ...

in 1958 and a 17–6 victory over tenth ranked

North Texas State The University of North Texas (UNT) is a Public university, public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private Normal school, teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 y ...

in 1959. Dobbs compiled a 30–28–2 overall record at Tulsa. In 1961, Dobbs left Tulsa to become head coach of the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. He was replaced at Tulsa by his brother, Glenn. After four highly successful years in Canada, Bobby resigned at the end of the 1964 CFL season. He felt that he had been slighted by Calgary's decision to elevate his former assistant, Rogers Lehew to general manager. With the Stampeders, Dobbs had a 38–23–1 record and made the playoffs every year. He served as head coach at

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

(known as Texas Western until 1967) from 1965 to 1972. In his first season as the Miners head coach, Dobbs turned a 0–8–2 team into an 8–3 that defeated powerhouse North Texas State 61-15 and beat

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

13–12 in the

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

. He compiled a 41–35–2 overall, including two

wins. His 1967 UTEP team led the nation in passing and scoring that season, losing its two games by a total of three points. He resigned as

UTEP Miners The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). They are informally referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas–El Paso. UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, ...

coach midway through the 1972 season, following a 56–7 loss to

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

on October 21, 1972. In April 1966, Dobbs turned down an offer to succeed

Paul Dietzel Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

as Army Black Knights coach due to his wife, Joanne's illness that required her to stay in the warm climate in El Paso. While at Texas Western, he sent many players into the pro ranks, with quite a few going, including

Fred Carr Freddie Alton Carr (August 19, 1946 – February 19, 2018) was an American football player who played linebacker for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1977. Carr attended Phoenix Union High School, where ...

Billy Stevens William Samuel Stevens (born August 27, 1945) is a former quarterback in the National Football League. Stevens was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 1968 NFL Draft. He played two seasons with the team. He was later acqui ...

, Ron Jones, and

Leon Harden Leon Maurice Harden Jr. (August 17, 1947 in Kansas City, Missouri – June 24, 2017) was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He played at the University of Texas at El Paso. Harden was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in ...

to Green Bay to play for Vince Lombardi. At one point Bobby ranked second among college coaches in number of players going in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. In 1972, Bobby said that if his 1–5 team didn't beat the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

, he would resign. The team lost and Bobby resigned. He went into the construction business in El Paso until his health started to fail in 1978. Bobby's failing health turned out to be

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

, and he died on April 2, 1986, in a nursing home in Altus, Oklahoma.

Head coaching record

* Hudspeth coached the remainder of the season

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbs, Bobby 1922 births 1986 deaths American football fullbacks Army Black Knights football players Army Black Knights football coaches Calgary Stampeders coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players UTEP Miners football coaches United States Army Air Forces officers United States Air Force officers People from Frederick, Oklahoma People from Munday, Texas Coaches of American football from Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Neurological disease deaths in Oklahoma United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Military personnel from Texas